Chapter 43: The Shadow Hound Incursion
The guttural growl turned into a savage roar.
Black mist poured out of the broken doorway at the far end of the hall.
It rolled across the floor tiles like thick, greasy smoke.
The temperature in the vault dropped in a single second.
Ice formed along the edges of the iron bookshelves.
Seraphina let out a small, terrified gasp.
Her knees buckled, and she fell back against the wooden stand.
*THUD!*
The heavy stone archway of Sector Three cracked open completely.
Two massive beasts leaped through the darkness.
They looked like giant hounds, but their bodies were twisted by dark magic.
Jagged black bone plates jutted out from their spines.
Their eyes burned like glowing red coals.
Thick, yellow acid dripped from their long fangs, hissing and smoking the moment it touched the stone floor.
Corrupted Void Hounds.
Calamity beasts born from broken ancient seals.
"G-Goddess above..." Seraphina whispered, her face turning chalk white.
Her hands shook violently as she raised her silver prayer beads.
She began to chant in a desperate, trembling voice.
"Holy Light of Lumina, cast away the shadow, protect this vessel..."
A bright golden light flared from her beads.
A circular shield of holy mana formed in front of her chest.
The lead hound did not even slow down.
It leaped straight at her with a furious howl.
*CRACK!*
The beast’s heavy claws slammed into the golden barrier.
The holy light flickered once, turned grey under the beast’s dark miasma, and shattered into bright dust.
The backlash hit Seraphina hard.
The air was knocked out of her lungs.
She lost her balance and fell hard onto the cold stone floor, scraping her palms against the tiles.
Her silver prayer beads slipped from her fingers, clattering into the dark corner.
The hound landed three paces away.
Its red eyes locked onto Seraphina’s throat.
Its jaws snapped open, dripping burning acid onto the stone.
It coiled its powerful hind legs and sprang into the air, aiming straight for her neck.
Seraphina froze.
Death was inches away.
She shut her eyes tight, waiting for the cold fangs to tear into her flesh.
She did not feel teeth.
She felt a sudden gust of wind.
*BOOM!*
A dark figure stepped directly into the path of the leaping beast.
Leo Vance.
He did not draw a blade.
He did not cast a defensive barrier.
Leo stepped forward with calm, brutal speed, his right hand shooting out like an iron vice.
His bare fingers clamped shut around the hound’s upper and lower jaws mid-flight.
The beast’s massive weight came to an instant, dead halt in mid-air.
The hound’s red eyes widened in shock.
It thrashed its muscular body, trying to claw Leo’s arm to pieces.
Leo did not even flinch.
Deep inside his chest, his Black Sun core flared with heavy, dark power.
His muscles tightened like steel cables.
"Too noisy," Leo muttered.
With a single fluid motion, Leo twisted his wrist and slammed the beast downward into the floor.
*CRACK!*
The sound of shattering bone echoed through the underground archive.
The stone tiles caved inward.
The hound’s skull split open against the hard floor, spraying black blood and bone shards across the narrow aisle.
The beast gave one final, twitching kick before going completely still.
Seraphina sat on the floor, her mouth open in stunned disbelief.
She could barely breathe.
’He caught it barehanded?’ she thought, her mind spinning in shock. ’A Calamity beast... with one hand?’
Before she could process what had just happened, a sharp hiss came from the left.
The second void hound lunged from behind the tall bookshelf.
It bypassed Leo entirely, aiming its sharp claws straight at Seraphina’s chest.
"Leo!" Seraphina screamed.
Leo did not even turn his head.
His left hand reached out, grabbing the thick iron leg of the wooden desk beside him.
With one hand, Leo ripped the heavy iron post clean off the wooden frame.
He spun on his heel and drove the sharp iron bar forward like a spear.
*SPLAT!*
The jagged metal post punched straight through the second hound’s chest, pinning the thrashing beast to the stone floor.
The hound let out a dying shriek.
Black smoke hissed from its chest wound as the corrupted core inside it shattered into pieces.
Silence returned to the narrow aisle.
Cold air.
The smell of burnt iron and sour blood.
Leo stood over the two dead beasts, his dark uniform spotless, his breathing completely steady.
He dropped the broken iron post with a dull clang.
He looked down at his right hand.
A thin line of black blood coated his palm, but his skin was unbroken.
The 4th Ascension physical strength he had gained from Floor 12 was more than enough to crush low-tier Calamity beasts without using magic.
Leo shook the black blood off his fingers and turned his dark eyes toward Seraphina.
"Are you done sitting on the floor, Saintess?" Leo asked, his tone flat and unimpressed.
Seraphina swallowed hard, her heart pounding against her ribs like a drum.
She tried to push herself up, but her arms were trembling too much.
"I... I..." Seraphina stammered, looking up at him with wide blue eyes. "You saved me."
"I saved myself," Leo replied coldly. "Dead partners make too much paperwork."
He took a step toward her.
As he did, a sharp hissing sound came from the dead hound beside her boots.
The beast’s ruptured venom sack had burst upon impact.
A pool of dark, sizzling acid splashed across the hem of Seraphina’s white robes.
The moment the acid touched the holy fabric, thick black smoke rose into the air.
*Sssssssss!*
The acidic miasma burned through the thick outer layers in seconds, melting the linen like paper.
"Ah!" Seraphina cried out in shock.
A sharp, stinging burn flared across her lower thigh and stomach as the acidic smoke seeped through to her skin.
The burning toxin was spreading fast.
If the acid reached her mana pathways, the dark corruption would poison her core.
Seraphina frantically tried to pat the smoking fabric with her bare hands, but the heat only grew hotter.
"It burns!" she gasped, tears filling her eyes. "The acid... it won’t stop!"
Leo’s eyes narrowed.
He stepped forward, grabbed her wrists with one hand, and pulled her hands away from the corrosive smoke.
"Stop touching it, idiot," Leo said sharply. "You will melt your own skin."
Seraphina looked up at him in panic, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
"What do I do?" she begged, her voice trembling. "It’s burning through my clothes!"
Leo did not answer.
He reached down with his right hand, caught the collar of her smoking outer robe, and pulled his dark dagger from his belt.
The sharp blade caught the pale blue light of the runes.
"Hold still," Leo commanded, his voice cold and steady.
Seraphina froze, her eyes widening as Leo leaned over her trembling body and brought the edge of the cold blade straight down toward the buttons of her white holy mantle.